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tongue-tie/receeded mandible. Anyone had it?

I have been breastfeeding my son for almost three months now and still have very sore nipples. He tends to "chomp" lots of short choppy motions instead of long efficient sucking strokes. I have been to a lactation consultant two times ( one time spending three hours there) and she states I am doing the best that I can and commended me for giving such an effort. She ruled out Thrush. I do have some vasopspasm and it is very evident when baby unlatches that baby is clamping down on my nipple - sometimes worse than other times. I am still uncomfortable to some degree during nursing even after three months time and son takes a long time to get his fill. My situation is that he has a tongue tie and receeded lower jaw. I'm just wondering if anyone has undergone the tongue tie release or frenectomy surgery for their child and if so did it change their nursing success for the better...more comfort and more efficient nurser? It's the last resort for me. I have started to give some formula but will try to pump as long as possible - pumping is hard to find time for when you have a needy baby who wants your time. I figured I would pump during his morning nap and after he goes to bed. At least he'll get a few onces of EBM each day along with formula. I'm heartbroken because I feel like I'm slighting him of better health and higher IQ. I will mention he is also taking medication for GERD. I just wonder if I put him through the tongue tie release procedure if his receeded jaw is still going to make for a difficult nursing relationship. Any Advice? Encouragement? Thanks ladies!

Re: tongue-tie/receeded mandible. Anyone had it?

I can't speak to the jaw issue, but I can give you my take on the frenulum surgery. My son's tongue was tied, and it escaped the notice of my midwife and lactation consultant. But it certainly affected his nursing! At 3 days, I finally figured it out, and at 4 days, we took him in to the specialist to be assessed. We went in to the office, where the doctor looked in his mouth and talked to us about our experience with it. He gave us some information, and we decided to do ahead with the surgery right then. Some anesthetic was applied to the frenulum. My son was settled in my lap. A nurse held his head steady. The doctor used an instrument to hold my son's tongue out of the way, and made one quick snip with a very small pair of scissors. He held pressure on the snip with a piece of gauze (this was when my son cried - he didn't like being held still like that), and that was that. After a minute, the doctor checked for bleeding, then I was allowed to nurse. My son nursed as if it didn't hurt him, and the improvement was immediate for me! It didn't hurt (although my son seemed a little unsure of his latch that first time, which makes sense, since he all of a sudden had a different tongue), and it continued to improve over the next couple of days. It was cute watching him play with his tongue afterwards, too. He would stick it out, and move it around in his mouth.

I am so grateful we discovered the source of the problem and addressed it. Honestly, it made the difference between me being able to nurse him long-term and early weaning. I would do it again in a heartbeat. And I will check any future children for tongue-tie very early on. The procedure was so quick, easy, and relatively painless. The benefit was huge.

As someone who had a tongue-tied nursling, I applaud you for nursing as long as you have like that! It's a challenge! I think it's definitely worth looking into the surgery.

Re: tongue-tie/receeded mandible. Anyone had it?

mamma, You are doing a great job, hanging in there. My ds2 was tongue tied...our pedi wanted us to wait until 4 months to see if his frenulum would stretch...it didn't so at 5 1/2 months we were finally able to get in to see the specialist and have his tongue clipped. It was rough in the beginning (before the surgery) since he would clamp down so hard on my nipple and was unable to extend his tongue over his lower gum line. He was a very effecient nurser though. He would nurse 5-8 minutes a side and be done. He always measured in the 90 + percentiles so we never worried about his weight gain. After his tongue was clipped he went up to the 20-30 minute nursing sessions that I had been used to with my ds1. He was unable to nurse for a couple of hours after the surgery, which worried me since everyone talks about being able to nurse right away. I think his mouth was still numb and once the anesthesia wore off he was able to nurse.

Re: tongue-tie/receeded mandible. Anyone had it?

Funny you post this! My son is 14 months and is having a frenectomy tomorrrow.

I will tell you this. Because you waited 3 months chances are the doctors will ask you to wait until 1 year. Your baby now has to be put under a general anesthesia and the procedure can't be done in the office anymore- they reserve that for newborns under 2 weeks of age. The chance is now too great your baby could twist and turn while the doctor is snipping and he could snip too far or in the wrong spot.

The reason why they will most likely tell you to wait until 1 year is because supposedly many of the tongue ties will stretch to a normal length and you won't need the surgery. In my research, I think that's an exaggeration but I think many children and adults overcome being tongue tied.

In my son's experience with being tongue tied, I had no clue until we switched pedi's and she pointed it out to me. Nursing was and is a struggle, I have constant sore nipples and have dealt with long-term low supply issues. But we somehow have made it through and are still basically breastfeeding exclusively, with the exception of solids here and there.

DS has great difficult swallowing because of his tongue tie and that's the motivation for us to have it repaired now. He basically can't move food from the front of his tongue to the back, nursing he figured out because the breast is drawn into his mouth and the milk drips back there. Also, you know when you eat then clean your teeth up a bit with your tongue? My son would never be able to do that, can you imagine? Gross!

Anyways tomorrow at 7:30 we're heading to the surgery center and he's having it repaired. It's a quick procedure but he is going to have stitches under his tongue too.

HTH and definately ask your pedi about this. A pediatric ENT is doing the frenectomy on Logan btw. :P

Good luck- you CAN still nurse w/ tongue tie it just takes a lot of work on latching and a little humor and patience. DS's is so bad he can't extend his tongue over his bottom teeth.

Re: tongue-tie/receeded mandible. Anyone had it?

My son's male pediatrician states he does not think the procedure is necessary unless the child is failing to thrive - my son is 9 lbs 5 oz at almost three months - still on the growth curve. He seems happy and the dr says he has great muscle tone. My lactation consultant on the other hand feels the tongue tie release could really help. Who to listen to? I am just sore all the time and the comfort measures required to bring some comfort to my nipples do not help completely to take care of the discomfort plus they take so much time and effort. I feel like I can never leave the house and I dislike Nursing in public. I'm tired of pinched sore nipples/vasospasm and scabby and occasional light bleeding - all due to my son's "chomping". I just don't want to put my poor son through something that will not help him or me. Plus I'm concerned if he will have speech issues with the tongue tie. I'm just waiting for the LC to get me some names of some providers who will do tongue tie release. Maybe speaking to a surgeon will give me a clearer head.

Re: tongue-tie/receeded mandible. Anyone had it?

We also had a pedi who wanted us to wait to see if it would stretch and ask DS was at the top of the charts, maternal pain didn't really hit his radar. My IBCLC/friend really encouraged us to have it done. I resenting nursing and was really struggling. We saw one ENT who would only clip under general anesthethia, but then we saw another who would do it with local in his office. I think what the pp said about 2 weeks being a limit really depends on the provider and what exactly they need to do. DS was 9 weeks at the time, and within three weeks I noticed a very significant difference. DS finally was able to end nursing sessions on his own (momma didn't have to cut him off b/c of pain) and he was able to comfort suck for the first time. Here's a really good resource for helping make the decision http://www.aap.org/breastfeeding/8-27%20newsletter.pdf

Re: tongue-tie/receeded mandible. Anyone had it?

Originally Posted by @llli*breastfeeding

My son's male pediatrician states he does not think the procedure is necessary unless the child is failing to thrive - my son is 9 lbs 5 oz at almost three months - still on the growth curve. He seems happy and the dr says he has great muscle tone. My lactation consultant on the other hand feels the tongue tie release could really help. Who to listen to? I am just sore all the time and the comfort measures required to bring some comfort to my nipples do not help completely to take care of the discomfort plus they take so much time and effort. I feel like I can never leave the house and I dislike Nursing in public. I'm tired of pinched sore nipples/vasospasm and scabby and occasional light bleeding - all due to my son's "chomping". I just don't want to put my poor son through something that will not help him or me. Plus I'm concerned if he will have speech issues with the tongue tie. I'm just waiting for the LC to get me some names of some providers who will do tongue tie release. Maybe speaking to a surgeon will give me a clearer head.

I would really encourage you to have it looked at by an ENT. I wish I pushed harder to have Logan's corrected earlier, perhaps avoiding many of the issues we've run into the last year w/ nursing and solids. My pedi was just so adamant to wait until past the 1 year mark even though I knew down deep he needed to have it clipped. You can bet when I have #2 I will be inspecting the tongue as soon as she/he is born.

Anyways, I will post tomorrow after he has it done and let you know how the procedure works out for us. I'm nervous!!!

Re: tongue-tie/receeded mandible. Anyone had it?

Ours was done at 5 and 1/2 months under local anesthesia by an oral surgeon.
Our decision to have it done was for two reasons. One was concern over speech development. I have a nephew who was not clipped until 18 months and he still has some speech issues at 7. And my dh has an aunt who never had hers clipped and was made fun of by the other kids, because she could not whistle or stick out her tongue etc....

Kudos to you mommas for sticking it out. If I hadn't known how breastfeeding was supposed to feel, since I had nursed my other child, I don't know if I would have stuck with it.

Re: tongue-tie/receeded mandible. Anyone had it?

Hey we just got back from the surgery! It went really well- it only took a few minutes and I was able to be in the surgery room when they put him under the general anesthesia. He woke up after about 15 minutes in the post-op room and was able to drink from his sippy and we went home.

By this time he was screaming to nurse, I was so scared!!! But he nursed wonderfully, it did feel different. For the first time I could feel his tongue on the bottom- so neat. Also, I can tell a difference in his speech big time. The best way to describe it is he doesn't sound as muffled and his speech is a lot clearer.

I'm so happy we had this done- it's worth looking into if your child has a tongue tie.

And the best part is how cute they look being able to finally stick out their tongues!!!

Re: tongue-tie/receeded mandible. Anyone had it?

Yeah! That's awesome! !

Kelly

Mommy to Gabriel born 12/25/06 Breastfed 12/25/06 - 12/09 and possibly here and there still
Madelyn born 9/24/09 delivered at home and caught by my husband "To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right."